StenuS.'] STAPHYLINID^. 345 



containing S. rafellus, &c., to which it is rather closely allied ; it 

 is, however, separated by the fourth joint of the tarsi, which is 

 bilobed for half its length ; the insect is of a somewhat leaden 

 black colour, rather shining; head broader than tliorax with furrows 

 obsolete, and the middle elevation scarcely perceptible ; antenna^ short, 

 pitchy brown, palpi blackish with first joint testaceous ; thorax and 

 elytra rather strongly, thickly, and evenly punctured, the former rather 

 long, Avith sides feebly rounded and upper surface even, the latter 

 scarcely longer than thorax ; hind body subcylindrical, more narrowed 

 behind in male than in female, margins rather feeble and becoming less 

 towards apex, front segments with obsolete keels at base ; legs black, 

 tarsi often brownish. L. 3-3^ mm. 



Damp and marshy places, iu flood refuse, moss, &c. ; occasionally in haystack 

 refuse; local and not common ; Wiilton-on-Thames, Belvedere, • Cowley, Tonbridge ; 

 Heulcy-on -Thames ; Wicken and Horning Fens; Ilepton ; Manchester; Northum- 

 berland, very rare ; not recorded from (Scotland or Iieland. 



S. nigritulus, Gyll. (nee Er,), (unicolor, W. C. and old collections, 

 7iec Er.) Kather larger than the allied species ; dull black ; head dis- 

 tinctly broader than thorax, about as broad as elytra ; frontal furrows 

 broad with interval slightly raised ; antennae pitchy, palpi with the 

 basal joint testaceous, and the second and third pitchy testaceous ; thorax 

 rounded at sides and gently but decidedly narrowed behind ; elytra a 

 little longer than thorax ; the whole insect is very strongly and thickly 

 punctured, the thorax especially thickly, rugose ; hind body rather long, 

 cylindrical, Avilh only faint indications of keels at base of front segments; 

 legs black, sometimes a little pitchy, tarsi short, with fourth joint 

 evidently bilobed for a portion of its length. L. 4 mm. 



Male with the seventh ventral segment of hind body slightly emargi- 

 nate at apex. 



Marshy places, at roots of grass, in haystack refuse, &c.; not uncommon; Lee, 

 Westerham, Wimbledon, Reigate, Greenwich, Amberley, Norttifleet, Tuubridge ; 

 Bungay; Wicken and Horning Fens; Glanvilles Wootton; Lewes ; Brighton; 

 Knowle, near Birmingham; Repton ; Scarborough; Northumberland and Cumber- 

 land, not common, in burrows of Bltdius arenarius ; Scotland, doubtful, the only 

 record being " South of Scotland, Rev. W. Little," Murray's Cut. 



S. brunnipes, Steph. {unicolor, Er., laticollis, Thoms.). Yery like 

 the preceding species in sculpture and general shape, but smaller and. 

 more shining with the elytra evidently shoiter, hardly as long as thorax ; 

 the frontal furrows are a little more marked and the interval between 

 them more raised ; the legs are pitchy-red with the coxae and knees 

 darker, and the antennae are pitchy with the two basal joints darker ; 

 the punctuation of the hind body is a little less strong than in S. 

 nigritulus, and the penultimate joint of the ' tarsi is more strongly 

 bilobed ; the very strong punctuation, short elytra, pitchy legs, and sub- 

 bilobed penultimate joint of the tarsi will distinguish it from all our 

 other species. L. 3-3^ mm. 



